G. H. Riddle Windmill

George Henry RIDDLE was born in Battle, Sussex, England in 1847. He emigrated to Port Adelaide, South Australia with his brother William James RIDDLE (born 1854) and parents George & Catherine on the ship Nimrod on 31 December 1855. As a teenager George RIDDLE was apprenticed to the firm of CULYER General Blacksmiths & Wheelwrights in Darlington, South Australia. George RIDDLE started his own business in Brighton as a blacksmith and wheelwright in 1868. He began building wooden framed windmills and these were further developed by his eldest son Henry Percival RIDDLE (born 1871), who took over the business in 1916. The RIDDLE windmills were well-known throughout South Australia and Henry later won a prize at the Adelaide Show for the perfect windmill. George RIDDLE died at home in Brighton, South Australia on the 19 April 1928. His brother William RIDDLE was also a windmill manufacturer in South Australia.
A January 1899 advert in "Garden & Field", Adelaide offered G. H. RIDDLE's windmills in either iron or steel, direct action or geared. The example photographed above is a direct action model with iron blades.
Photographed at Talia on the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia by B.G. Hewitson in August 2002.Back to gallery